Dock pads with adjustable head pad



1966 c. P. FROMMELT ETAL 3,230,675

DOCK PADS WITH ADJUSTABLE HEAD PAD Filed Sept. 4, 1963 INVENTOR. CYR/L r? FRO/WMELT BSPSYLVA/V J. FROM/WELT United States Patent 3,230,675 DOCK PADS WiTH ADJUSTABLE HEAD PAD Cyril P. Frommelt and Sylvan J. Frommelt, Dnhuque, Iowa, assignors to Dnbutpie Awning and Tent (10., Dubuque, Iowa, a corporation of Iowa Filed Sent. 4, 1963. Ser. No. 306,517

6 Claims. (Cl. 52-173) This invention, in general, relates to building structures and to pad structures to be mounted about doorways or other openings in buildings to close off space normally occurring between the rear of a truck body and the doorway or other opening in the building. The invention has particular application to the sealing of the rear end of a truck and the doorway of a room to prevent entry of warmer, outside air into the refrigerated chambers in the truck body and/ or room while the truck is being loaded or unloaded or to prevent cold drafts of cold outside air into the building while .its door is open during the loading or unloading of a truck. Briefly, this invention comprises a padded, compressible structure mounted about an opening in a building. The compressible structure extends along at least three sides of the opening. The sides of the compressible structure are mounted on the building in positions whereby the rear ends of sides and top of a truck body bear against them when the truck is backed up to the doorway or other opening for loading or unloading. The rear ends of the truck sides and top press against the compressible structure to provide a seal therebetween against entrance of outside air into the truck body and/ or building.

Thecompressible pads are preferably cellular, resilient, compressible blocks covered with a wear-resistant, weather-resistant fabric or other covering. A feature of the invention pertains to the combination of such pads in the arrangement of a pair of spaced, vertically extending, side pads between which extends a horizontal head pad which is vertically movable. The side pads are adapted to bear against the rear edges of the side walls of a truck .body while the head pad is adapted to bear against the rear edge ofthe roof or top Wall of the truck body, .The purpose of a vertically movable head pad in the pad combination is to permit the latter to be aligned with roofs or top walls on various types of truck bodies having different heights.

To achieve the latter'function, the head pads are mounted on vertical guide means, i.e., channels, tracks, etc., and are coupled to mechanism operated within the reach of a person standing on the loading dock. Such mechanism conveniently is a cable and pulley combination wherein the weight of the head pad is counterbalanced by counterbalance weights or the like.

The objectives and advantages of the invention heretofore briefly described may be attained by the practice of the generic principles of the invention in the form of a preferred embodiment thereof illustrated in the accompanying drawing wherein:

FIG. 1 is a front elevation of a fragment of a building with a truck dock and a dock pad of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken on section 22 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an exploded view of a fragment of the head pad and one of the mechanisms for mounting the head pad for vertical movement; and

FIG. 4 is an enlarged, detail view of a segment of a side pad in perspective with the pad being sectioned on section 44 of FIG. 1 to show the interior detail of the pad.

Referring to the drawings, a building 1 has a dock bumper 2 for its truck dock 3. A truck is backed to the dock until its bed frame bumps against the bumper which may be 3,236,675 Patented Jan. 25, 19 66 2. The building has a door frame 4 forming a doorway for the doors 5.

There is mounted on the building wall a compressible dock pad structure which includes the vertical pads, 6, 7 of generally block shaped construction. These pads may be mounted fixedly in the door frame or, as in the illustrated case, on the building Wall 1 adjacent the sides of the door opening in the building wall. The pads project outwardly beyond the bumper plate 2 a slight distance so that the rear edges of the side wall of a truck body will seat tightly against and compress the pads 6, 7 when the truck is backed up to the doorway with its bed frame against the bumper plate 2. This gives a good seal along the sides of the doorway against entry of atmospheric air into the truck body and/or building.

The pads 6 and 7 arernounted on the building wall 2 by Z-brackets or plates 8 having one leg fixedly secured by a screw, bolt or the like to the building wall 1. The other leg of the Z-plates or brackets 8 is offset with respect to the first-mentioned leg and is attached bya screw to the wood backing plate Q of the pad 6, 7.

A cellular, compressible, resilient body 10 is attached by adhesive or.other suitable means to the front face of each backing plate 9. The body 10 is of any suitable natural or synthetic, compressible, resilient resin or polymer, our preferred material being a foamed polyester. The bodies 10 may be a monolithic block or may be made of a series of two or more stacked blocks of the resilient, compressible material. We prefer a block shape for the pads 6, 7 because, among others, it provides a flat, truck-contacting, outer side for the pads.

The sides and front face of the compressible, resilient bodies 10 are covered by a waterproof, weather-resistant flexible material such as treated or coated nylon fabric to encase the bodies 10. A single piece of fabric stretched tightly over the body It to provide fabric side panels 11, 13 and a fabric front panel 12 is used in the illustrated embodiments of the invention. The front panel 12 has stitched or otherwise secured thereon a vertical row of overlapping, flexible, wear-resistant flaps or plates 14 which provide excellent protection against abrasion and tearing of the pad structures 6, 7. These flaps or plates 14 are attached only along their upper edges to the fabric panel 12, as by stitching 16, and they should overlap to provide the best protective quality. They may be also considered to be a row ofoverlapping flaps of flexible, wear-resistant material which bear the brunt of wear and tear occurring when the truck is loaded or unloaded or is backed against or driven away from the pads 6, 7.

We have observed that rear door hinges, rear door edges of open doors of trucks and other projections or sharp-cornered parts on the rear edges of the sides of trucks tend to wear or tear fabric covers. For example, because of its spring suspension system, the rear end of a truck body rises or settles as it is being unloaded or loaded under the shifting weight while moving the load into or out of the truck. When the rear ends of the sides of a truck press against the pad structures 6, 7, projections or sharp corners embedded in the pad structures may snag the fabric of panel 12 (assuming the pads or plates 14 to be absent) or abrasively wear the fabric by the up and down motion of the rear end of the truck. Because, however, the flaps or plates 14 of flexible material are attached only at their upper edges to the panel 12, each pad, flap or plate 14 is free to move up and down individually of the other flaps. Because they are flexible, and their sides and bottom are unattached, they can flex or fold enough to move up or down with an abutting part of the rear of the truck.

While many heavy duty fabrics or other flexible sheet materials are suitable materials for the pads, flaps or plates 14, we have found heavy-duty rubberized nylon to be an excellent material. If desired, a strip of rubberized nylon or other heavy-duty fabric may be sewn on each member 14 to provide a vertical guide stripe on each pad structure 6, 7. Wear by abrasion and tearing of fabric covers on the pad structures 6, 7 essentially is eliminated by the use of the aforesaid flexible flaps or plates on the truck-contacting face of the pad structures.

There are provided adjacent the rearward edges of panels 11, 13 of the fabric covering a series of metal grommets. Screws (not shown) ext-end through grommets 17 into plate 9 to attach the edges of the fabric covering to the sides of plate 9s A head pad 18 extends across the upper part of the doorway between the side pads. It comprises a rigid backin plate or board 19 (FIG. 2) having mounted on its outer face a block 20 (or series of aligned blocks) of cellular, compressible material of the character of blocks 10. The block 20 is covered with a wean-resistant, weather-resistant fabric or covering 21 or other sheeting like that over blocks 10. This covering 21 may be attached to plate 19 in any suitable manner, e.g., by use of grommets like those illustrated at 17 and screws extending therethrough.

The rigid backing plate or board 19 has attached to each end thereof a vertically disposed pipe or rod 22. Each rod 22 is slidably seated in the channel formed by one of the two U-channel members 23 at opposite ends of the head pad. The U-channel members 23 form vertically extending guide means for guiding the head pad in vertically adjusting its position to correspond with the position of a roof or top wall of a truck backed against the loading clock.

The U-channels 23 each are rigidly attached by welding or other suitable means to a mounting plate 24. Each mounting plate 24 is rigidly attached to the wall of the building by bolts or the like extending through holes 25 in the plates 24. The upper ends of the U-channels 23 are slotted. A pulley 26 is rotatably mounted between the side walls of each U-channel, which pulley partly extends through the aforesaid slot.

Each mounting plate 24 has mounted thereon a pulley 27. A cable or rope 28 extends over the two pulleys and is attached at one end to the pipe or rod 22. The other end of the pulley 28 is attached to an externally threaded. cylinder 29. A counterwieght 30 with a tapped hole in an arial end thereof is threadedly attached to each cylinder 29. The counterweights 30 counterbalance the weight of the head pad structure so that it remains in the desired adjusted position when moved.

To raise the head pad 18, one or both counterweights 30 are pulled downwardly. Conversely, one or both counterweights 30 are raised to relieve their counterbalancing eiTect so that the head pad 18 will move downwardly by gravity. If desired, the head pad 18 may have mounted on its backing plate or board 19 a handle 32 which can be pulled or pushed to raise or lower the head pad.

The side panels 11, 13 of the side pads and also one or more panels of the head pads may have a series of vent holes 31, 33 therein. These vent holes are air vents to allow easier passage of air through the fabric covers when the foam type pad members are compressed by the rear end of a truck or when the blocks resiliently expand to their normal shape when the truck moves away from the loading clock.

It is thought that the invention and its numerous attendant advantages will be fully understood from the foregoing description, and it is obvious that numerous changes may be made in the form, construction and arrangement of the several parts without d parting from the spirit or scope of the invention, or sacrificing any of its attendant advantages, the form herein disclosed being a preferred embodiment for the purpose of illustrating the invention.

The invention is hereby claimed as follows:

1. A building structure comprising a building wall, an opening in said wall, the sides of said opening each having a vertically disposed pad structure adjacent to and substantially at least coextensive therewith, each pad structure comprising an elongated block of a compressible, resilient material, means fixedly attaching said pad structures to said building, a horizontal, compressible, resilient head pad extending between said pad structures adjacent the top of said opening, vertically extending guide means mounted on the building wall adjacent the top of said opening, means on said head pad slidably coacting with said guide means for vertical movement of said head pad along said guide means, and holding means operatively connected to said head pad for vertically adjustably positioning said head pad' in said guide means.

2. A structure as claimed in claim 1 wherein said compressible pads comprise blocks of foam elastomer attached to a rigid backing member.

3. A building structure comprising a building wall, an opening in said wall, the sides of said opening each having a vertically disposed pad structure adjacent to and substantially at least coextensive therewith, each pad structure comprising an elongated block of a compressible, resilient material, means fixedly attaching said pad structures to said building, a horizontal, compressible, resilient head pad extending between said pad structures adjacent the top of said opening, a pair of spaced, vertically extending guide channels mounted on the building wall adjacent the top of said opening, slide members on said head pad slidably mounted in said channels, and holding means holding said head pad in vertically adjusted position.

4. A structure as claimed in claim 3 wherein said lastmentioned means comprises a counterweight connected to said head pad by a cable-pulley combination.

5. A building structure comprising a building wall, an opening in said wall, the sides of said opening each having a vertically disposed pad structure adjacent to and substantially 'at least coextensive therewith, each pad structure comprising an elongated block of a compressible, resilient material, means fixedly attaching said pad structures to said building, a horizontal, compressible, resilient head pad extending between said pad structures adjacent the top of said opening, a pair of spaced, vertically extending guide channels mounted on the building wall adjacent the top of said opening, vertical, elongated rods on opposite ends of said head pad in sliding, guiding relationship in the respective guide channels, and counterweights operatively connected to opposite ends of said head pad by respective cable-pulley combinations.

6. A structure as claimed in claim 5 wherein the pulleys of said cable-pulley combinations are rotatably mounted on laterally and outwardly extending plates respectively rigidly attached to the respective upper ends of said guide channels.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 206,046 7/1878 Sherman 1452 2,215,515 9/1940 Matheny 20-69 2,619,687 12/1952 Kahn. 2,634,589 4/1953 Wilson et al. 2,704,574 3/1955 Etlar 20--69 X 3,181,205 5/1965 Frommelt et a1 20-69 HARRISON R. MOSELEY, Primary Examiner.

W. E. HEATON, Assistant Examiner. 

3. A BUILDING STRUCTURE COMPRISING A BUILDING WALL, AN OPENING IN SAID WALL, THE SIDES OF SAID OPENING EACH HAVING A VERTICALLY DISPOSED PAD STRUCTURE ADJACENT TO AND SUBSTANTIALLY AT LEAST COEXTENSIVE THEREWITH, EACH PAD STRUCTURE COMPRISING AN ELONGATED BLOCK OF A COMPRESSIBLE, RESILIENT MATERIAL, MEANS FIXEDLY ATTACHING SAID PAD STRUCTURES TO SAID BUILDING, A HORIZONTAL, COMPRESSIBLE, RESILIENT HEAD PAD EXTENDING BETWEEN SAID PAD STRUCTURES ADJACENT THE TOP OF SAID OPENING, A PAIR OF SPACED, VERTICALLY EXTENDING GUIDE CHANNELS MOUNTED ON THE BUILDING WALL ADJACENT THE TOP OF SAID OPENING, SLIDE MEMBERS ON SAID HEAD PAD SLIDABLY MOUNTED IN SAID CHANNELS, AND HOLDING MEANS HOLDING SAID HEAD PAD IN VERTICALLY ADJUSTED POSITION. 